50%  believe they will not find work in next 6 months

The Panamanian Consumer Confidence Index (ICCP), as of March 2022, shows that Panamanians are still distrustful of finding a new job in the next six months.

According to the survey, the perception of unemployment marked an index of 79%, that is, 4% below the previous measurement when it was 83%.

For the measurement of May 2022, the perception remains discouraged, because 50% consider that it is unlikely to obtain a job, 35% consider that they will not have a job, 4% consider that they will have a job and 11% consider that is quite likely to have.

The level of mistrust regarding the chances of saving fell to the lowest level in recent years, with 51%. This trend is due to the effects of low employment in the midst of the cost of the home, education problems, the rise in fuel, among other services that are maintained or increased.

The general manager of The Marketing Group, Domingo Barrios, a company in charge of carrying out the ICCP together with the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Panama, commented that at this time we should not talk about economic reactivation but about labor.

He warned that unemployment continues to affect young people and women.

Barrios said that there is 52% of independents who do not have a formal job, but at the same time he stressed that the country generates 70% of informal jobs, mostly made up of people without a work contract, independent professionals, domestic workers and employers with less than five workers. The general manager of The Marketing Group also pointed out that the economic growth forecast for the country this year comes from external factors such as mining and the Panama Canal. However, the domestic sector is not developing or reactivating.

“There is no employment generation strategy for the country, since it is still waiting to hear how the labor reactivation will take place. The country requires a labor reactivation strategy that generates jobs immediately and on a massive scale, for which leadership from the public sector together with the private sector is urgently needed, as well as strengthening tourism, small and medium-sized enterprises, restaurants, hotels and manufacturing, activities” Barrios said.